Broken world emp afterma.., p.15
Broken World (EMP Aftermath Book 1), page 15
“Mom?” She pushed open her mom’s door and tried to erase the worry from her face as she entered.
“Laurel.” Her mother smiled a broad smile and pushed herself up in bed.
“I hear you’ve had a bit of a day.”
As her mother started to repeat the tale Hannah had already told, Laurel settled down onto the bed and adjusted the pillows behind her mom’s head.
“I’m so sorry about Beth.”
“She knew it was coming. It’s just so sad that her husband and her children couldn’t be with her.”
Laurel’s cheeks flushed as her mother met her eyes. She knew how her mom felt about Bear; she still believed firmly that one day soon he and Laurel would get back together. As for Mae, her mother had never understood the rift that had developed between them. Truth be told, three years later, Laurel wasn’t sure she understood it either.
“Have they…?” Her mom swallowed hard and gripped the edge of her blanket. Her nail polish was peeling; Laurel had promised her a manicure weeks ago and hadn’t gotten around to it.
“Have they what, Mom?” She perched on the side of the bed and took hold of her mother’s hand.
“Have they moved her? I heard Hannah talking about the morgue being full and I just can’t stand the thought of poor Beth still lying there on her own.” Her eyes had filled with tears. She took a tissue from beside the bed and wiped them.
“I’ll go check. If they haven’t, I’ll see she’s taken somewhere comfortable.” Laurel stood up and kissed her mother’s forehead. “I’ll be back later,” she said, smiling and hoping she’d managed to arrange her features into an expression that would convince her mom she was doing okay. “I’ll do your hair and your nails. How does that sound?”
“Laurel, you don’t have time for that.” Her mom reached up and stroked Laurel’s face.
“I’ll make time.” Laurel nodded firmly. “I promise.”
Outside, in the hallway, she found Hannah leaning against a wall drinking from a half-empty bottle of water. When she saw Laurel, she screwed the cap back on and sighed. The poor girl looked exhausted.
“I don’t think I can do this much longer,” she said as Laurel approached, her lower lip already trembling as she spoke. “I’ve only got three patients left. Three. Before the power went out there were ten.”
Laurel adjusted her glasses on the bridge of her nose and tried to ignore the jolt of nausea that had formed in her throat.
“I’m the only Oncology nurse left.” Suddenly, as if all her energy had suddenly disappeared, Hannah sank to the ground and put her head in her hands. “I can’t do this. I can’t just keep watching them die.”
“When was the last time you got some rest? Has anyone been up here to relieve you?” Laurel crouched down and spoke softly.
Hannah shook her head but didn’t look up. “No one. It’s just been me since so many people left.”
“All right. So, here’s what we’ll do.” Laurel tweaked her index finger beneath Hannah’s chin, forcing her to look up. “I’m going to fetch the janitor and one of my best nurses, Mark, to help move Beth’s body down to the morgue. Then I’ll send Mark back here to take over while you get some rest.”
Hannah’s eyes started to water. She didn’t wipe them. “Thank you,” she whispered.
“Hannah, what you need to remember is that you are doing vital work here. These people depend on you. They need you as much for comfort and reassurance as they do for their medicine.”
Nodding, Hannah allowed Laurel to help her to her feet. As Laurel watched her, she opened her mouth to speak, then closed it again.
“What is it? Is there something else you need?” Laurel asked, keeping eye contact.
“It’s just….” Hannah cleared her throat. “It’s a little difficult now that Dr. Sullivan’s taken control of dispensing meds. I mean, he comes around regularly but without access to pain meds I can’t respond if a patient needs them straight away.”
Laurel put her hand on her chest. She felt like she’d been thumped with a sledgehammer. “Dr. Sullivan took away your med supply?”
“He said the hospital was pooling its resources and that he’d be around with our allocated rations twice a day.” Hannah was examining Laurel’s face. Hesitantly, she added, “He’s also taken over your mom’s trial meds.”
“Her trial meds?” Laurel stepped back and allowed herself to lean against the wall. Pressing her palms against it and trying to focus on the coolness against her skin, she breathed deeply. “I’ll talk to him.” She looked at Hannah, nodding to convey that she’d sort it out. “After we’ve moved Beth down to the morgue, I’ll talk to Dr. Sullivan.”
“Thank you.” Hannah smiled. It was a weak smile that wavered at the corner, but sincere.
“I’ll see you soon.” Laurel nodded at her.
She found both Henry and Mark in the ER. Henry was mopping the floor with a weak cleaning solution—another thing they needed to replenish—and Mark was tending to a recently arrived patient who seemed to have horrendous blisters on her feet.
“She walked here from Little Oak. Took her three days.” Mark rubbed his palm over his face as he stepped away from the patient. “She’s dehydrated. Her feet are a mess. Apparently, news hasn’t reached Little Oak yet that South Minneha is not the hot new place to be.”
Laurel looked at the woman. She was young. Probably about Mae’s age, with long red hair that perhaps a few weeks ago had been shiny and straight, but was now dull with grease and knotted.
“Treat her wounds and send her to the foyer. They’ll get her cleaned up and give her a bed.” Laurel pinched the bridge of her nose. The only upside of so many people leaving was that at least they had beds to spare, even if their food supplies were running low. “When you’ve finished, I need a favor.” Laurel lowered her voice. As she explained that she needed help getting a body down from the Oncology ward to the morgue, the words felt thick and bitter in her mouth. She’d seen plenty of dead bodies in her time as a doctor. She’d never had to move one before.
As he listened, Mark’s face paled. It was one thing putting a deceased patient on a gurney and letting Henry wheel them away. It was another thing entirely to carry that patient down two flights of stairs.
“I can’t think of another way,” Laurel said. “Without the elevators—”
“It’s okay.” Mark pushed up his sleeves. “I get it. I’ll finish up here and meet you up there.”
As Laurel fetched Henry and headed back to her mother’s ward, she began to weigh up her options. Clearly, Robert was using the hospital’s drug supply to bribe the prisoners. So if she could persuade the prisoners to leave, he’d have no one to bribe and would have to relinquish control.
In the stairwell, just before they opened the door onto the ward, Laurel turned to Henry and said, “Henry, I’m sorry to ask but I need a favor.”
Henry stopped and looked at her. “Of course, Dr. Rivera, anything you need.”
“You spent some time in jail, didn’t you? Before you came here?”
“I did, yes. Many years ago.” Henry’s voice had tightened.
“I need someone to try and persuade the prisoners to leave. Someone who can speak to them on their level.”
Glancing down at a large tattoo on his left arm, Henry nodded. “Of course,” he said. “I will speak to them. But I can’t promise—”
“Just speak to them, that’s all I ask,” she said hurriedly. “Ask them what it would take to get them to leave.” Watching Henry’s face, Laurel paused. She wasn’t sure how much to tell him, but she had to trust someone and Henry had been loyal to her since the beginning of this thing. Lowering her voice, she whispered, “Henry, we need those men out of here. Dr. Sullivan’s the one who set them free, and I think he’s been bribing them with medication from the hospital’s supply. The nurse on my mom’s ward says Sullivan’s taken over dispensing meds to the patients.”
Henry blinked at her. “Dr. Sullivan?”
Laurel nodded gravely. “Yes. Dr. Sullivan.”
Henry was about to say something else when Mark’s heavy footsteps sounded behind them. Laurel met his eyes, hoping desperately that he understood this information should stay between them. Henry offered her the smallest nod, and Laurel released her breath. He got it.
Taking the stairs two at a time, Mark quickly caught up with them. “I left a gurney at the bottom of the stairs,” he said.
“Good.” Laurel pushed open the door and stepped into the dim corridor of the Oncology ward. Glancing at Henry, she added, “Where are we….” She cleared her throat. “Now that the freezers are full, where are we…?”
“The floor.” Henry said bluntly. “But I believe it’s time we talked about what to do with the deceased. We cannot keep them there forever.”
Laurel nodded. Her blood had turned to ice. “I’ll arrange a staff meeting later. We’ll discuss what to do.”
They’d reached Beth’s room. Laurel prayed her mother would stay in her own until they’d finished.
“Ready?” Laurel looked at the men beside her, then steeled herself and pushed open Beth’s door.
She’d seen dead bodies before. Too many to count. For some reason, this one was different. Laurel steadied herself on the doorframe as her legs began to tremble.
The woman in the chair could have been sleeping except for the position of her head. She was about Laurel’s age, her skin smooth but ghostly pale. She still had a blanket on her lap and her hands were clasped in front of her. Her nails were red. Laurel’s mom’s favorite shade.
Laurel screwed her eyes shut and took a deep breath. The image of her mother and Beth sitting together, smiling as her mom painted Beth’s fragile nails, was too much. When she opened her eyes again, instead of seeing Beth, she saw her mother.
Henry’s hand on her shoulder forced her to turn and look at him. “All right, Dr. Rivera?” he asked, meeting her eyes as if he could read her thoughts.
“Yes,” she said hoarsely. “I’m all right.”
She stepped into the room and walked over to the chair. Beth could have been sleeping, but she wasn’t.
23
LAUREL
“I’m sorry, Dr. Rivera. I spoke to the prisoners but they’re not going to move. They have everything they want here. I don’t think we could tempt them away, and we certainly don’t have the manpower to force them away.” Henry looked deflated, as if he’d failed her somehow.
Laurel sat down on the edge of the empty bed in Bay Two and rubbed the back of her neck to ease the tension in her shoulders. “That’s okay, Henry. Thank you for trying.” Looking beyond the curtain to make sure Robert wasn’t anywhere nearby, Laurel added, “Did they tell you anything about Dr. Sullivan?”
“They’re very close-lipped about him, which tells you something in itself.” Henry leaned against the wall and laced his hands together in front of him. “When I told them I knew it was Sullivan who released them, they agreed, and they didn’t disagree that he was bribing them with drugs.”
“But they wouldn’t tell you why?”
“They’re loyal to him,” Henry said, swallowing hard.
Breathing in slowly, Laurel grimaced. “All right. It’s time we took this to the other staff members. Pass the word about a meeting. Tonight. After Robert’s done his final round.”
Henry nodded. “You need a hand here in the meantime?” He looked at the mop and bucket Laurel had been using to wash down the floors.
“Thank you,” she said. “The last thing we need is a superbug taking hold.”
“I know we’re running low on cleaning supplies, but we’re running low on water too.” Henry took the mop and began to run it over the floor beneath the bed.
“We need Sullivan to stop the games he’s playing,” Laurel said tightly. “We don’t have time for it. We should all be pulling together to keep this place running, not thinking about who’s in charge.”
“Fact is, though,” Henry said, straightening up, “someone has to be in charge. Situations like this, everyone starts off thinking they can work together for the greater good, but humans don’t work that way. Someone has to be the boss.” He met Laurel’s eyes and held them. “And I’d rather that person was you, Dr. Rivera, than Dr. Sullivan.”
After a pause, Laurel smiled a little. “I think it’s time you started calling me Laurel rather than doctor,” she said. “And thank you. For your loyalty.”
At that, Henry shrugged. “I’ve been around the block,” he said. “I know a good person when I meet one.”
“Do you mind me asking why you were in prison all those years ago?” Laurel asked, pulling on a pair of rubber gloves and dropping down to her knees so she could scrub behind the bed.
“Robbed a convenience store. With a gun.”
Laurel didn’t look up from where she was scrubbing. “When you were a kid?”
“Seventeen.” Henry had stopped mopping. “My brother died in Beirut. I couldn’t handle it.”
“I see.” Laurel sucked in her breath. Just the mention of serving overseas in that part of the world made her think of Bear, and of Mae, and she’d been trying so hard not to think of them.
“You were in the military too,” Henry said. A statement not a question.
“Army. My husband too.” She shook her head, pushing herself back up to stand. “And now my daughter.”
“I didn’t know you had a daughter.” Henry sprayed disinfectant onto a cloth and began to run it over the bed rails.
“We haven’t spoken in a long time.” Laurel took off her gloves and put them into the trash can, then shoved her hands into her pockets. She’d expected Janet to be the one she talked to about her family but, somehow, Henry made it feel easy. Natural. “My husband was injured badly in Iraq. He lost his hearing almost completely and had a very tough time coping when he was discharged. It drove a wedge between us. Then Mae, out of nowhere, decided to join up. Her father and I hated the idea. She did it anyway.”
“That’s rough.” Henry was leaning on his mop. “I don’t have kids. If I did, I sure as heck wouldn’t want them fighting in any wars.”
Feeling her eyes starting to prickle, Laurel looked away.
“You know where she is?” Henry looked up at the ceiling, at the lights that hadn’t worked in more than ten days. “In all this.”
Laurel shook her head. “No. My husband’s in Canada. He bought a cabin and went off-grid.” She chuckled a little; thinking of Bear living in the wilderness alone was something she still couldn’t quite get her head around. “He probably hasn’t even realized the power’s out.”
“That must be nice.” Henry chuckled too. “Blissful ignorance. I could use some of that about now.”
“Me too,” Laurel smiled at him. “Me too.”
As the hospital descended into the now familiar eerie darkness of nightfall, Laurel watched Robert carefully. Every night, he went to check on her mother when the sun went down. Tonight, she wanted with every fiber of her being to follow him and challenge him about what he’d been doing, but that wouldn’t work. The only way to deal with him, and the prisoners, was to get the rest of the staff on her side and come up with a plan.
“We can’t stay long,” Janet said as she entered the break room. “There’s no one manning the doors.”
“It’s okay,” Laurel said, “I’ll be as quick as I can.”
As Henry, Mark and Maggie entered, Laurel looked around the room. Dr. Anderson, who’d been overseeing most of the other wards while Laurel dealt with the ER, slipped in and stood with her arms folded.
“Is this everyone?” Laurel looked at them. “Hannah’s not joining us?” she asked Mark, her heart twitching in her chest because Hannah was the only other person—apart from Henry—who felt the way she did about Robert.
Mark shook his head. “A patient took a turn for the worse.” Hurriedly, he added, “Your mother’s fine. It’s Mrs. Lucas.”
Laurel closed her eyes. She couldn’t allow herself to think about her mother. This meeting needed to happen quickly, and it needed to end with everyone being on her side.
“Okay, everyone. We have a lot to talk about. Our supplies are dwindling. Food, water, cleaning supplies, and staff. We need a plan of action.”
A rumble of agreement passed through the room.
“But, first, I need to talk to you all about something else.” She inhaled sharply and held the air in her lungs. “I’m sure you’ve noticed that the inmates from the Prison Ward were freed and that they’ve been roaming around the hospital.”
Maggie and Janet exchanged worried glances. “Miranda left,” Maggie said. “After Doctor Sullivan had to save her from that prisoner. She said she couldn’t take it anymore.”
“Right.” Laurel nodded at Maggie. “And, in fact, it’s Doctor Sullivan I want to talk to you about. This might come as a bit of a shock, but there’s no easy way to say it so I’ll just come out with it… I believe Doctor Sullivan released the prisoners on purpose and that he’s been bribing them with our drug supply to keep them under his control.”
Laurel listened to the words roll off her tongue and watched the faces of her colleagues. By the door, Henry nodded at her, but the others didn’t move. Mark’s eyes had narrowed. Janet was twiddling her thumbs nervously, and Maggie looked like she just didn’t really understand what Laurel had said.
Dr. Anderson was the first to speak. “I’m sorry,” she said, laughing a little, “You think Robert did what? Why would he do that?” She looked to the others, who nodded and hmm’d in agreement.
“I know it sounds like a stretch.” Laurel adjusted her glasses. Her Texan accent was leaking through into her words, the way it always did when she was under stress. “If Hannah was here, she’d tell you that Robert took charge of the medication for all the wards. He confiscated it and has been dispensing it himself.”
